She says passengers should deal with reclining seats, just show courtesy to each other

Robbins: Passengers who get flights diverted should be fined, put on no-fly list

Editor's note: Mel Robbins is a CNN commentator and legal analyst. She is the founder of Inspire52.com, a news and entertainment site for women, and author of "Stop Saying You're Fine," about managing change. She speaks on leadership around the world and in 2014 was named outstanding news talk radio host by the Gracie Awards. Follow her on Twitter @melrobbins. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- In a little more than a week there have been three, yes three, planes diverted because passengers have thrown hissy fits over reclining seats.

The latest incident involved a woman on a Delta Air Lines flight, Amy Fine, 32 of Boca Raton, Florida. Fine was napping on her tray table when the woman in front of her reclined the seat. According to Aaron Klipin, who witnessed the whole thing, Fine started screaming at the woman and then began yelling and cursing at the flight attendants, saying something to the effect of, "I don't care about the consequences; put this plane down."

Mel Robbins

I guess she also didn't care about the consequences for the person in front of her when she put her head down at the back of that person's reclining chair.

And now here's the crazy thing: Delta complied and diverted the plane.

Are the airlines to blame for recliner rage? There's certainly reason to point the finger. In recent years, airlines have shrunk the size of the seat (to 17 inches in coach!) and the legroom, and hit us up with charges for everything from luggage to in-flight meals and entertainment. Tighter seats are made worse by packed flights. Last year 83.1% of domestic seats were occupied.

What will make airliners safer?

Ironically, this Delta incident occurred in the rows where passengers pay extra for more legroom. Perhaps seats just shouldn't recline at all.

What are the most annoying habits on airplanes? A series of seat recline skirmishes has passengers talking about the aggravations of air travel. Click through the gallery of 20 top irritants.

You folded your suit coat nicely and placed your hat in the allotted overhead space. Too bad Bin Hog just mangled it all while shoving his suitcase, stroller and shopping bags into a space meant for one personal item.

Airplane movies: the opiate of the flying masses. Except when your hyperactive neighbor takes 30 minutes to decide between "Grown Ups 2" or something a little less cerebral. Such behavior earns "passengers who take too long to pick a movie" the number 19 spot on our "most annoying" list.

Coming in at spot 18 -- compulsive leg-shaking. The fidgety leg-shaker isn't all that common, but still annoying when encountered at altitude.

Annoying behavior number 17? Boarding ahead of group number. Most airlines have a system for getting hundreds of passengers aboard in the least amount of time. That's why we schlep on as part of Group A or B or C. Just because you drew the short straw on this one doesn't give you the right to pretend to be dyslexic.

What's more annoying than people rushing to board the plane? Babies crying. Are we really blaming babies for doing what babies do naturally? Sure, as long as they're your kids, and not ours.

"I'd learn some bladder control if I was in the window seat," runs the unspoken complaint. Number 15 on our list -- those who get huffy when you leave your seat.

"Hey, we just landed. ... can you hear me? ... we just landed ... I'm on the runway ... can you hear me now? ... We just landed ... " Annoying behavior number 14: Those who can't bear to wait to deplane before yacking on their cell phones.

We get it -- airlines have cut back on food service, forcing us all to bring our own snacks and meals onboard. But did you really have to clean out the back of your refrigerator? Bringing aboard stinky food isn't just annoying, it's gross too.

Hey, we're trying to read here. Number 12 on the rude behavior list: people who don't know how to use their inside voices on planes.

Coming in at number 11 -- elbow wars. Do you often find yourself elbowing someone else's arm off what should be a shared space? That's armrest hegemony. And it's annoying.

Praise God, the middle seat is empty! Til the guy next to you employs annoying behavior number 10 and lays claim to the no man's land of the middle seat with a book, coat or inflatable neck support. Or long appendage.

Thanks for sharing your globules of diseased saliva. This lonely gentleman may have the only sensible approach to dealing with those who practice annoying behavior number nine -- germ sharing.

Bleep, bloop, blorp. Funny how some of the most irritating things on the planet can be called "games." Even more irritating are people who play them, on a plane, with the sound turned on.

"Sir, is that a ... carry-on?" Annoying behavior number seven: Wielding huge suitcases as carry-ons.

Here we've regressed to the time before the invention of the queue. Don't you just hate people who rush from the back of the plane in an attempt to disembark first?

Another annoying behavior that also falls into the gross category -- cutting fingernails inflight. Toenails are also trimmed at 30,000 feet, but that would have been a really offensive picture.

"Feet nudism" is a common complaint, earning it the number 4 spot on our list. Appalling side note: people who actually go to the bathroom on the airplane in their bare feet.

We've all encountered the toilet hogger. What are they doing in there, you wonder as you hover cross-legged by the door. Certainly not being considerate of other people.

Annoying travel behavior number two: recliners. Aviation engineers, listen up: No one likes the recline button! Time to reinvent the plane seat.

I have a different point of view. The problem isn't the seats. The problem is people. As my husband just commented to me, "What the $#@% is wrong with people these days?" The answer -- entitlement is alive and common courtesy is dead. We all hate to fly. It's frustrating to be packed into a plane like a bunch of sardines, but we are all in the same metal tube packed in together -- can't you be a little bit nicer?

If the airlines have to change their business practices so that passengers show some courtesy -- the list for the ways to do it is long. Start by making it free to check bags and charge extra to carry anything larger than a purse or briefcase on the plane. That'll prevent rude people from pushing to the head of the line to race for overhead storage.

The reason planes are so packed right now is because it's still cheap to fly. And if legroom is that important to you, cough up the cash for a better seat. Because if you cut the number of seats, you have to increase the price to fly -- so any way you slice it, you are paying a premium for space.

There's also no debate that when the jerks win we all lose. And don't kid yourself. These jerks are winning. When you divert a plane and make everyone on board miss his or her connections or arrive late simply because you want to take a nap -- that's insane. And worse, in the Delta incident passenger Fine got zero punishment for her bratty behavior. She should have been arrested as soon as that plane landed. She should be fined the maximum civil fine of $25,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration. Neither of these things has happened.

In life, you train people how to treat you. And all too often, we as a society train the jerks to keep on pulling these stunts. Maybe the woman in front of you was tired too and needed to recline. Next time someone reclines, instead of dropping four-letter bombs, just drop your own seat back -- you'll find that most people can handle it.

Besides if you are so on edge that a reclining seat throws you into a rage -- you shouldn't be on a plane, you should be on a no-fly list.